Avocado Toast
Andrea Potischman
Jun 12, 2017
With more than 410,000 Instagram posts, “avocado toast” is no longer just a fad. Nor are people just eating it for breakfast: it’s also being served for lunch and as a snack and has become a go-to alternative to grilled cheese for kids and grownups alike. Avocado toast has staying power, most likely due to its nutrient-packed, heart-healthy properties, its creamy taste, and its ability to satiate hunger. I still love a good grilled cheese every once in a while, as do my kids, but I am guilty of falling for the whole avocado toast craze myself.
Billed as part of “clean living” in the U.S., this is not a new concept at all: people in Chile have been eating avocado on toast for decades. Gwyneth Paltrow has been credited for popularizing this healthy (yet some say slightly indulgent, due to an avocado’s fat content) creation in her cookbook It’s All Good. In it, Paltrow says that this simple toast is “not a recipe at all,” due to its basic nature and its reliability. I get it.
Avocados’ superfruit quality makes this recipe (or numerous others like it) a great healthy option for breakfast or lunch, especially when you’re in a hurry. But I think if you’re willing to do a bit more than smear plain avocado on a slice of bread, you can make this simple treat even better.
Avocado Toast
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of your favorite seedy whole grain bread, lightly toasted
- 1 small avocado, cut in half, pit removed
- 1 beefsteak tomato, sliced
- 2 Persian cucumbers, skin on, ends trimmed, long thin ribbons made by a vegetable peeler
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Extra Virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Red pepper flakes to taste
Directions:
- Place the toasted bread on a cutting board. Using a butter knife, scoop out some avocado flesh and spread evenly on each toast, covering the whole area. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice on each toast.
- Place 1-2 two tomato slices on top of the avocado. Place sliced onion on top of the tomato.;;Gently weave the cucumber ribbons on top making a lattice pattern.
- Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
As the avocado toast fad has taken hold I’ve been quite bemused, as this delicacy was a childhood staple in my home in the 1970s. My dad grew up in Southern California with avocado trees in his back yard. From a young age, I remember him making what we called “avocado ON toast” by mashing avocados with lemon juice and salt and spreading it on toast. Simple and delicious especially with soup.